This decision from the DNC to suppress the release of its own autopsy report on the last presidential race seems remarkable yet not surprising. Resistant to frank assessments, the Democrats' governing body often functions more like a PR firm than a political organization committed to building local power capable of prevailing at the polls.
A Climate That Avoids Dissent
Reluctant to depart from the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the DNC has stayed under the Biden-Harris shadow throughout this past year. Making public an official autopsy could have demonstrated whether party leaders are interested to foster public discourse regarding the strategic failures that paved the way for Donald Trump to return to the White House. However, the committee is acting under the pretense that there's nothing to understand following the stunning loss of 2024.
"Here’s our North Star: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it is an unnecessary diversion from the core mission," a justification reportedly given for withholding the document.
Critical Problems an Autopsy Would Have Examined
An autopsy report of substance would tackle head-on a series of difficult topics. These include:
- Voter Disengagement: Failing to retain of millions of voters who supported the Democratic ticket in 2020 proved pivotal in the narrowly decided recent race.
- The Insistence to Run: The unwavering insistence of the incumbent to stay in the race, and an extremely delayed step-aside, is seen by some as robbing the party's base of open primaries.
- Failing the Working-Class Base: Amid rising costs, the campaign allegedly accommodating elite contributors without successfully attempting to confront the impact of profit-seeking.
- A Foreign Policy Effect: The refusal to adjust a policy position concerning a major international conflict reportedly led to alienating key demographic groups, particularly with youth voters, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- A Decline in Youth Support: Extensive evidence indicates a huge decline in Democratic support among young voters.
A Record Shunning Scrutiny
Choosing secrecy fits a pattern of evading hard truths. It recalls a situation where the vast majority of Democratic officeholder in Congress acquiesced to a sitting president's determination to running for re-election right up until a poor public debate performance compelled a reversal.
Meanwhile, a significant majority of the electorate had been repeatedly informing pollsters that they did not want the incumbent to run again.
Financial Issues
A substantive report could examine issues regarding where money went, including the amounts flowed to high-priced advisors and ad buyers over the course of an electoral effort that managed to spend an enormous amount during the general election.
A Broader Problem
At its core, the blockage of the official autopsy points to a submission to the established hierarchy who engineered a disastrous electoral effort. The message for rank-and-file members – which includes countless dedicated activists – appears to be that they cannot be trusted to know the lessons party chiefs have learned based on hundreds of interviews based on conversations with insiders.
A party unable to honestly assess where it went wrong will struggle to climb out of the pattern which was so advantageous to the rival party.
